Blankenstein was a small town in the Principality of Reuss-Schleiz, and this zinc pfennig belongs to the wave of municipal notgeld coinage that flooded Germany during the First World War, when the imperial government's hoarding of copper and nickel for war production stripped towns of small-denomination coins almost overnight. Municipalities were authorized to issue their own emergency coinage to keep local commerce functional. Zinc was the material of necessity — cheap, available, and thoroughly unloved by the public.
Blankenstein was a small town in the Principality of Reuss-Schleiz, and this zinc pfennig belongs to the wave of municipal notgeld coinage that flooded Germany during the First World War, when the imperial government's hoarding of copper and nickel for war production stripped towns of small-denomination coins almost overnight. Municipalities were authorized to issue their own emergency coinage to keep local commerce functional. Zinc was the material of necessity — cheap, available, and thoroughly unloved by the public.